The Bigsibling Blog

I can see it now. The bankers of Bank of America in downtown Boston, sitting around the conference table, smoking their big cigars and drinking their fine brandy from snifters. White haired men in dark pin-striped suits discussing who they are going to foreclose on next in this whole giant fiasco with sub-prime mortgage rates. One looks out the window, down at all the little people.
“Say, Whithers, come here, look at this one.”
“What, what is it old man?”
“That one there, on the sidewalk, what is he doing?”
“By jove, I believe he is aligning nooses in front of our building.”
“Wait, what is that, is he putting up a sign?”
“By jove, I believe he is, but we are too high to read it. Quick, Durnst, call my secretary and have her run down to the street and tell us what it is this chap is up to.”

A few minutes later the secretary reports that the man has arranged several nooses on the sidewalk with a sign that reads “Nooses for sale”.

“Well, that simply won’t do! Get Tommy on the phone. We donate quite a bit of money to his campaign fund. We’ll put a stop to this!”

Phones ring and orders are delivered, and finally a couple of beat cops get the  command “get rid of the guy in front of the Bank of America building.”

The cops arrive…

“What’s he doing? Putting out nooses? What is he some kind of racist bastard?”
“I don’t know, looks like a protest of some type. You see, the nooses could represent the Bank of America being the hangman for all the sub-prime mortgage holders that are being forced from their homes.”
“Well, we have orders to get rid of him. How we gonna do that?”
“Let’s see, his sign says ‘Nooses on sale’, I wonder if he has a license to sell stuff on the street…”
“Good thinking, let’s arrest him for being an unlicensed transient vendor!”

I know, it almost sounds like a skit from Monty Python’s Flying Circus - except without the humor. Thankfully for Milan Kohout, and for the First Amendment, this case was tossed by the District Attorney quicker than a madam can change bed sheets. Maybe next time the BoA bankers will give more campaign money to the DA and not just he mayor.

Don’t get me wrong. This whole sub-prime mortgage thing is a gigantic fiasco. But I can’t lay the blame solely on the banks. The people who signed these deals knew exactly what they were getting into. They knew their rates were ultra-low for a fixed amount of time, and that they would then rise. These people bought houses they couldn’t afford - but were able to make their payments on as long as the interest rate was so low. But they knew, well before they signed the papers, that the interest rate was below what it natural, and that it would be temporary. I feel most of the blame should be laid on the people who signed the contracts. I’m all about people taking responsibility for their own doings. And this would fall right into that. They were hoodwinked into signing the papers. They weren’t told their 1% interest rate was permanent or even long term. The banks don’t stand to make any money of this catastrophe. Especially now that the bottom has fallen out of the housing market. People can’t sell their homes for what they owe on them. So they are stuck, and the banks are stuck with homes they can’t sell to recoup their costs.

But still, arresting the guy for selling stuff on the street without a license, especially since it was quite obvious to anyone with a 2nd grade education that Kohout was not selling anything at all? Puhleeeze.

source

Technorati Tags: Banlk of America, Subprime Mortgages, Milan Kohout, First Amendment

Stumble it!

I’ve said time and again, what happens on the Internet, stays on the Internet…FOREVER. Now I’ll have to change that ‘what happens anywhere in what could possibly remotely be considered cyberspace, stays in cyberspace…FOREVER’.

Case in point; a pair of Einsteins named Derrick McCreary and Jonathan Hunter. McCreary and Hunter (sounds like some 70’s movie title doesn’t it?) went around robbing credit unions. Netting around $300K, were finally caught and convicted. Part of the evidence used to convict these Thunderbolt & Lightfoot wannabes were text messages they had sent to each other. The messages were retrieved from their provider - SkyTel - via a subpoena.

Did you know that your mobile provider is archiving your messages?

I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that Google archives all of your Google Talk messages too (they really aren’t the ‘do no evil’ company they want you to believe they are).

source

Technorati Tags: SkyTel, Text Messaging, Credit Union Robberies

Stumble it!

There is a case going on right now in California (go figger) that pits the Stolen Valor Act against the First Amendment (that’s the one that guarantees us free speech for you folks in Parma, OH). 

See, back on 2005 Congress passed the "Stolen Valor Act" which makes it a federal felony for one to say they have won medals in the military, when they, in fact, did not. This essentially broadens the scope of the law that was already on the books making it illegal for any person to falsely claim to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Now folks can be found guilty for saying they have…oh…for example…received the Navy Cross, or they were maybe a Navy Seal, when they weren’t.

One would think that an elected official might - just might - know better than to go around making claims like this. And I believe in most cases one would be correct in that assumption. Not so with Mr. Xavier Alvarez. Last year this ignoramus was at a water district meeting where he (for reasons only known to the laying bastard idiot) claimed to have received the CMoH for his deeds as a Marine.

Of course, some people just couldn’t take him at his word on this, and they did some checking (who knew someone would check out a story some politician tells about himself?). Lo and behold this guy never even served in the military, let alone received any awards.

Now he is being charged with the Stolen Valor Act, and his defense is…that’s right; "My lies are protected speech." Now, I do have to admit that I believe everyone has the right to be a moron, and that all too frequently people use that right. I also believe that everyone has the right to tell a lie if they want to. And that lies, by and large, are protected by the First Amendment. However, there are a couple of extra issues going on with this case.

This guy lied about receiving the highest honor any person can receive in the armed forces. The people that receive these medals are true American heroes. This guy’s lies trivialize the tremendous sacrifices of the true recipients and their loved ones. And for this, his lies should not be protected speech. Anymore than the lies of a con-artist should be protected speech. This guy, and every person who lies about either serving in the military or receiving unearned commendations should be thrown in the klink for a year or so, and should also endure a hefty fine as well. And maybe even have to clean off the memorials for our fallen servicemen that reside in the national mall with a toothbrush.

source

Stumble it!

Yeah, right, some choice: Wear it or die!

What kind of people are these? What kind of person would rather see his daughter dead, then dress the way he wants her to dress? The answer is Muhammad Parvez. Parvez and his family live in Toronto. He wanted his daughter Aqsa to wear the traditional Muslim hijab (that’s the head scarf for those not in the know). But she didn’t want to. She wanted to blend in with society. She wanted the freedom that Canada is supposed to give people. She wanted to look and act like the other kids at school.

But that just wasn’t enough for daddy (and her brother, he was in on the whole thing too). So daddy beat his daughter to death. Beat her so badly that he killed her. This, this is from a strict practitioner of the so-called “Religion of Peace”. This isn’t the first time fathers and brothers have beat a woman to death to uphold their family honor. Of course not in the world, but particularly not in what I would call the civilized world.

Back in July I posted about Banaz Mahmod. She was a 20 year old Muslim woman living in England who brought the terrible shame upon her family of falling in love with a man her father didn’t approve of. In response to this terrible shame, he and other relatives put her through a two and a half hour ordeal where she was brutally beaten and raped before finally being allowed to die.

I don’t know that 16 year old Aqsa was put through such torture; although, it would certainly not surprise me in the bit as these ‘religion of peace’ practitioners seem to be very adept at non-peaceful ways. What I do know is that this girl will not see her 17th birthday. She died, was murdered, because she didn’t like to wear the clothes her father wanted her to wear. To her father, it was more important that his daughter wear that fucking hijab, then to be alive.

Tell me again about that whole “Religion of Peace” thing?

source

Stumble it!

Well, let’s just hope that this putz gets “the book” thrown at him. I’d personally like to see him get the maximum fine and prison time. Of course, with that much prison time, it is unlikely he would be able to pay the fine, but it would be nice for him to die in prison owing nearly $2 million in fines. But since he plead guilty instead of facing the music to a jury of his peers (or rather, normal folks like us), he is probably going to walk away with probably a few thousand dollar fine, and several years of probation only. The only way to get these people to stop stealing in this manner is to make the penalties of getting caught just not worth the crime.

‘Botmaster’ admits infecting 250,000 computers | Tech News on ZDNet

John Schiefer, 26, agreed to plead guilty to four counts of fraud and wiretap charges that could lead to a $1.75 million fine and send him to prison for up to 60 years, the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Technorati Tags: botnet, John Schiefer, botmaster, paypal

Stumble it!

It seems that Amnesty International doesn’t like the coppers using tasers. They think it is uncalled for and want police departments to ban them. Now I know what you’re thinking - “Great! That means the cops will just shoot more bad guys!” - and I was thinking that too. But then I realized, all those bullets are going to cost money. And the police get their money from our taxes. And more bullets means more taxes - so I’m thinking, keep the tasers!

A study conducted by Amnesty
International and funded by the US Department of Justice has found an
interesting conclusion. The study was conducted on the use of taser
guns by police departments throughout the United States. The study revealed that “99.7 percent of the people on the receiving end in the real world had either no
injury or mild injury”. I suppose that .03% of the people who actually suffer something more than mild injury is too much for AI to swallow. After all, AI claims that 277 people have died in the United States after being shocked by a taser. They don’t say what these people died of, or if the tasering had any thing to do with the cause of death.

Ah well, I guess they have to complain about something since nobody seems to be giving a hoot what they say about Gitmo.

source

Technorati Tags: Amnesty International, taser, police, use of force

Stumble it!

An article I read this morning has made me think of the differences between Christian living and Muslim living.

Recently a Catholic churct in McKinney, Texas was vandalized. The numerals ‘666′ as well as some grossly offensive and vile words were spay painted on the statue of St. Michael, the Sanctuary doors and in the parking lot. This is what the pastor, Stephen Bierschenk, had to say about it:

It depicts a person who is very angry, I’d say, and prejudice.
What we preach and the way we try to live is to try and forgive them, during the services this weekend I plan to ask everybody to offer a prayer that God will heal the heart of the person who did (it).

While, when a mosque in Tampa, FL is vandalized, the people demand that local and federal law enforcement search for some sort of bias motive. It is almost as if they actually want people to be biased against them. Why? Because biased crimes (a/k/a hate crimes) will usually carry a stiffer penalty.

Just to recap here; The Catholic priest wants to pray for the offender’s soul, so that the offender might come to God and be forgiven and experience eternal happiness. The Muslims want the offender to be punished more harshly because they are Muslim and the offender isn’t.

Just gotta love that whole “religion of peace” thing, don’t ya?

Sources:
Florida Mosque Targetd by Vandals
Catholic church vandalized by hate-speech
Technorati Tags: Catholic, Muslim, Vandalism, Church, Mosque, CAIR, McKinney, Tampa

Stumble it!

Just think of the kids. How many kids are hurt each year by these terrible weapons? I’ll wager hundreds, maybe even thousands. I don’t think there are any records kept. Even if there are records kept, they are almost certainly woefully inaccurate. Just the other day, a woman in Des Moines, IA was attacked with this weapon by her drunken husband. The assault was so brutal that the man, James Izzolena, is being held without bond. Without bond! That honor is usually held for only the most heinous crimes.

The weapon of choice for Izzolena was…an onion. He threw an onion at this wife, and she called the cops, and now he is held without bond. For throwing an onion. Don’t get me wrong here folks, please. It isn’t right to throw onions at anyone, especially one’s spouse. But to 1) actually arrest a fellow for throwing an onion; and 2) actually hold him sans bond for said offense; one has to wonder what the world our justice system is smoking!

While this Izzolena is thrown the book (I’ve got $10 that says he gets the maximum sentence) in Iowa, in Kansas, pedophiles walk with probation and zero jail time.

America - we’ve got our priorities in order!

source

Technorati Tags: Des Moines, onion, assault, James Izzolena

Stumble it!

For those that say the Islamic Sharia law is only practiced in “Iraq and some remote tribal areas of Pakistan”, I present to you 18 men from Nigeria. Not from Pakistan (remotely tribal or otherwise) and not from Iraq, but from Nigeria. You probably recognize the country as the place where the king/queen/ambassador or [insert title here] has recently died and left a large sum of money (MILLIONS!) that the dead person’s brother/sister/niece or [insert relative here] needs your help to claim. But I digress…

Anyway these men were partying at a hotel when they got really wild and crazy and dressed up as women. OOPS! That is illegal under Sharia law. Their punishment can be up to a year in prison, and 20 lashes with a cane. The men were at the hotel to attend a homosexual marriage. That has to get the lefties panties in a bunch. Who do you root for? The poor misunderstood Muslims, or the gays that are persecuted by them?

source

Technorati Tags: Sharia Law, Nigeria, Homosexual, Transvestite

Stumble it!

The problem with so-called hate crimes is, that almost every crime can be construed as a hate crime. The problem with that is, when nearly every crime is a hate crime, the heinousness that the label of ‘hate crime’ is supposed to portray, becomes watered down. It gets to the point (and I think we are arriving there pretty fast) where there are so many actions - many terribly minor - that are classified as ‘hate crimes’ that people just quit thinking of a ‘hate crime’ as something particularly heinous.

Case in point, Tabitha Vandyke, a PetSmart employee and a lesbian. Some numb-nuts wrote “die [expletive]” on the inside of her locker at work. The police, of course, are calling it a hate crime. Now, sure, it was insensitive, offensive, rude and vandalism…but a hate crime? Whatever.

Another case in point, one or more numb-nuts ran around a Hartford, Conn neighborhood creating graffiti on peoples’ cars and garages. Some of the symbols scribbled were swastikas. Now the police are investigating it as a hate crime. It doesn’t appear that any one person, or type of person was targeted for this graffiti spree, but what the heck, let’ all jump on the hate crime bandwagon and call it that.

It is incidents like these (and there are plenty) that weaken the whole idea of a ‘hate crime’. It is incidents like these that will mean the demise of what the designation of ‘hate crime’ was supposed to be. Simply calling someone a name, or displaying a horrible symbol is not a hate crime people.

Technorati Tags: Hate Crimes, Racism

Stumble it!

« Previous entries